Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Down 7.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) fell 7.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The stock traded as low as $31.07 and last traded at $31.3160. 779,902 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 2,361,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.92.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on MUR. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $29.69.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,893 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,767 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 42,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,325,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.3%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $720.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $648.80 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 4.30%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.